So I go all the way from Los Angeles to Saba in the Netherland Antilles, a teeny island (5 square miles) in the Caribbean (not too far from St. Maarten) to experience an earthquake. What’s that about? Yesterday at about 12:30 there was an earthquake nearby, which was felt by the folks in St. Maarten and the scuba divers underwater here in Saba although we didn’t feel it on The Rock, as Saba is called. They said it felt like a huge speedboat speeding over them, they heard it!

Saba, a teeny island in the Caribbean

I’m not a diver but my very good friends, Lynn and John, own a dive center over here called Sea Saba, and Lynn is on the board of a non-profit called Sea and Learn, which she asked if I would volunteer at this year. I jumped at the chance, so here I am, plonk in the middle of all THE world’s best experts on all things environmentally important to the island folk of Saba. For instance, we’ve had Mark Marks here for the last few days who has taught us everything you would want to know about sharks (he actually lived on Dyer Island for about 8 years and taught in Cape Town), at the moment we have Lisa Richardson here who is THE expert on fish identification, Linda Walters left yesterday after teaching us all about sea urchins and algae, it’s a pity Rod Stewart (truly his name) wasn’t here yet as he’s coming to tell us about earthquakes. We have a month’s worth of experts, and even a screening of The Cove in the middle of the month (at an outdoor bar/restaurant).

And I brought my dog Danny, too, whom the islanders think is “dumber than a goohhht” (that’s goat to us). And believe it or not, in addition to a handful of South Africans who live here (pop. of the island is 1,200), they have imported South African goats which roam the streets – haven’t been able to find any good Goats do Roam yet though. The island boasts the smallest cloud forest in the world, at the top of the volcano at Mt. Scenery, where a rainforest sits. While this is a predominantly diving destination (one of the best in the world – they have many in-the-world categories here including the world’s scariest airport landing), and everything here is at an angle – reminds me of Paul Theroux’s book on Bolivia where he says everyone in La Paz walks at an angle.

There’s an abundance of local stories and folklore here, so watch this space.

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About Caren

Caren Banks was born in Paris, France; grew up in South Africa and has now been in the States for almost 35 years - and, wow, had to use her fingers to work that out. Does this mean she's getting younger? Except for 6 years in the 80's when she lived in Connecticut, she's spent the entire time in the Hollywood area in Los Angeles, and the last 20 years or so in the safari business in one form or another.